"Oh remnant of Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘do not go to Egypt’. Be sure of this: I warn you today…" ~ Jeremiah 42:19.
In the days
when Babylon conquered and exiled Israel and Judah, Jeremiah was a primary
prophetic voice leading up to and immediately following the exile. Most of
Judah, including the tribal leaders and key people of influence, were exiled to
Babylon. However a small number of the poorer people were allowed to remain in
Judah. Jeremiah was among them and remained to minister to them. However they
did not come into alignment with God. They were a troubled group and did not
like living in their homeland. They were considering abandoning their homeland
and going to Egypt. So they asked Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord what they
should do. Jeremiah inquired and the Lord said ‘Do not go to Egypt’. Even
though the Lord assured the people that he would take care of them in their
homeland, they went against the word
of the Lord and moved to Egypt. In Egypt they entered into idol worship
and practices of the Egyptian culture. Eventually, Jeremiah and most of them with
him died in Egypt.
When we ask
the Lord’s counsel, we may not get the answer we want, but we get an answer. If
we are still unsure of the answer, we can seek confirmation. If a directional
word is confirmed, we must be careful to follow it even if we don’t like
it! The people who inquired of Jeremiah
got both a directional word and specific counsel from the prophet not
to go to Egypt.
Scripture presents
incidents when the Israelites looked to Egypt as a place of escape from the
difficulties in their homeland. Even though the Lord had specifically given
them the land of Canaan and surrounding territory, at times it was Egypt they
looked to for escape and comfort. When confronted
with the challenges of the wilderness, the people complained to Moses that
slavery in Egypt was better than challenges in the wilderness.
In this
case, they began burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and they were
prosperous and well fed in Egypt. In other words, they obtained their prosperity
from a demonic source. They
felt secure in that demonic influence. Prosperity, safety, and security are NOT
necessarily a sign of God’s approval!
Today we all
must be careful of the temptation to go back to the Egypt in our lives as a
returning to peace and safety. In fact
we are warned that in the last days many will be declaring peace and
safety. Our only security and safety is the strong tower, the name of the
Lord. That is where we go!
